Nerves
by greysfan27
Summary: Holly and Gail have been dating for 6 months, and Gail is supposed to meet Holly's parents, but gets injured on the job. Holly x Gail.
1. Chapter 1

**Not a doctor and I don't know much about bulletproof vests, so just go with it! Hope you enjoy the one-shot!**

* * *

"Officer down, I repeat, Officer down! Officer needs assistance!" Oliver yelled into his radio as he looked down at his blonde partner.

"I'm fine, Shaw!" Gail managed to spit out as she tried to sit up before Oliver pushed her back down.

"You're not, Peck. It missed your vest, you're hit." He said shakily as he started putting pressure on her bullet wound that was sitting near the top of her vest.

"Holly's gonna kill me. I'm supposed to meet her parents tonight." Gail said slowly, out of breath by the end of it.

"She'll be okay as long as you're okay."

"Yeah." She whispered, her eyes starting to flutter.

"Peck, come on, Peck!" Oliver shouted at her before he grabbed his radio again, "Where the hell is my back up and ambulance? She just lost consciousness and there's so much blood! Get me some help, now!"

* * *

Holly walked into the Police Station with a big smile on her face, looking around for Gail. After 6 months of dating, she was introducing the sarcastic blonde to her parents; they had reservations at an Italian restaurant in town in two hours.

Holly was supposed to pick Gail up from the station, and then they were heading back to her apartment to get ready.

The brunette frowned when she noticed the hurrying of the officers and the frantic looks on their faces.

"What's wrong, Traci?" She asked when she saw the detective storm by with a radio.

"Officer down." She said shortly, stopping before the radio buzzed to life in her hand, "Hurry that damn ambulance, she's losing too much blood!"

"Traci, please tell me that's not Oliver." Holly said with tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Holly." Was all Traci could say before she was interrupted by the radio again.

"Ambulance just got here. Traci, grab Holly and meet us at the hospital; it's bad." Oliver said, followed by a whisper from Gail, "Tell Holly-" Was all they heard before the radio clicked off since he didn't want everyone to hear what she was saying.

"Come on, Holly. We'll get you to the hospital." Traci said as she placed a hand on Holly's back.

The brunette had tears streaming down her face and had taken her glasses off to wipe her face when she turned to Traci.

"She'll be okay, right?"

"Of course she will, Holly. It's Gail we're talking about, alright? You know how stubborn she is and how much she loves you. She wouldn't let anything take her away from you, not now."

* * *

"Oliver! How is she?" Traci asked as they ran into the ER waiting room.

Holly gasped when she saw Oliver; he had now dried blood on his hands and uniform and looked thoroughly shaken up.

"I don't know. They took her straight back a little while ago, I haven't heard anything yet. She regained consciousness for a few seconds though; she wants you to know that she loves you, Holly." He said as he looked at the brunette who nodded solemnly.

"Why don't you go wash up, I'm sure they won't come out with news until you get back." Traci suggested.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go do that. I didn't even notice." He said as he looked down at his partner's blood on his hands.

"Why don't we sit down, Holly?" Traci suggested as she pulled the brunette into a chair, "Do you want me to call your parents or something and let them know what happened? That you can't make dinner tonight?" She asked quietly, rubbing the brunette's back.

"You knew that we were having dinner tonight?" She questioned, surprised.

"Yeah. Gail's been freaking out all week; she made me come up with practice questions to ask her as if I were your parents. She wanted to be prepared; didn't want to let you down." She said with a short laugh.

"That sounds like Gail." Holly smiled slowly.

"You've been amazing for her, you know? She never showed emotion, never got excited about anything other than her work. You changed that. When she found you, she found herself."

"She's an amazing person."

"She is, and she always has been, she just shows it even more now. She talks my ear off about you, and she's never done that with anyone before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And just the other week when you were at that pathology conference in Vancouver, she came to the Penny with us like old times. She literally just sat there going 'I miss Holly,' and 'I miss Holly, what do you think she's doing right now?' Then someone at the bar ordered white wine and she just looked at it going 'Holly loves white wine.'"

"I was definitely behaving the same at my conference."

"She slept at my place that night because she said she didn't like being alone anymore. You've turned her into a sap." Traci said with a smirk. "It makes me love her even more though; I always knew she had that in her, she just needed to find the right person."

"And you think I'm the right person?"

"Oh, without a doubt."

* * *

"Holly!" Elaine Peck said as she rushed towards her daughter's girlfriend.

"Elaine, hi." The brunette said, standing up quickly.

"How's my daughter? Have you heard anything?"

"No, not yet. It's been about 20 minutes so far." She said, looking around the waiting room at all of the off duty police officers that were now congregating there.

Almost four months ago, Gail had gotten tired of her mom trying to set her up with any guy she could find, so she finally brought Holly to a family dinner one night as 'the person she was dating.' Her mom was thrilled because she thought it was going to be one of the many men that she had set her up with.

However, when Gail walked in, followed by Holly, she was surprised to say the least, but was on her best behavior in front of company.

Holly stepped out to take a call for a few minutes since she was on call for work that night, and as soon as she left the room, Gail turned to her mother expectantly. Knowing that she would have something to say.

"_Well?" The blonde asked her mother. _

"_I can't say I'm completely surprised you brought a girl home, I've always wondered. She's very sweet though, and a doctor. That's always a plus." _

"_Yes, she's incredibly intelligent and an amazing person. Do you approve of me dating her, or should I just leave now before it gets ugly? Because we don't need to deal with that." _

"_Stay. I'd like to get to know her more." _

Needless to say, it had gone way better than Gail had expected it to and Elaine had actually taken quite a shine to Holly; she thought that the brunette was excellent for Gail.

* * *

"So what happened tonight, Officer Shaw?" Elaine Peck asked once they were all sitting down waiting for news.

"Well we were heading back to the station to clock out when we got one last call for the evening and decided to take it since it was on the way back to the barn. It was a domestic disturbance; neighbors called it in. Before we could even knock, this guy came barging out the door, shooting at us. Gail stepped in front of me and he shot her, couldn't have been more than 5 feet away from us. She got a bullet in his shoulder though before she got shot and I got him in the leg. So he should be turning up in some hospital somewhere."

"Did she look alright though? Aware and conscious?" The Superintendent asked.

"No, ma'am. She did for about a minute; even tried to sit up. But once I opened her vest I saw how much blood she was losing and started putting pressure on it. She was still talking for a bit, but it was really shaky and she was out of breath. Then she just stopped talking. Finally right as the ambulance got there, she woke up for about 30 seconds, but then started coughing up blood on the way to the hospital."

"What? She was coughing up blood?" Holly asked suddenly after not hearing that part earlier.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. It slipped my mind I guess."

"Dammit." She whispered, a fresh batch of tears coming to her eyes.

"How bad is that?" Elaine asked quietly.

"Well it's not good. It means severe internal bleeding for sure, so surgery is definitely happening."

Just as Elaine was going to ask another question, a doctor walked out.

"Blood relatives of Officer Peck?" The doctor asked since he knew that all of the police officers were 'family.'

"Here." Elaine said as she stood up, pulling Holly with her.

"Your daughter has some very serious internal injuries at the moment. The bullet went through her shoulder and managed to travel downwards through her spleen, so we'll likely have to remove both the bullet and the spleen. We've already had to do a blood transfusion and will almost certainly have to do at least one more. Surgery could be up to 3 hours or more depending on how extensive her injuries are once we get in there. I'll send someone out periodically to give you an update."

"Thank you, doctor." Elaine said, shaking his hand.

"Oh, is there a Holly Stewart here?"

"That's me." Holly said shakily, raising her hand.

"Miss Stewart, you've been named as Officer Peck's Advance Directive and Power of Attorney, so you're in charge of what medical decisions are made and signing some paperwork. Can you come with me, please?"

"Uh, sure. Of course." She answered, not knowing that Gail had updated her information to make Holly the one in charge of her medical decisions should the blonde be unable to do it herself.

"We need you to sign some paperwork for us. Specifically the DNR." The doctor said as he grabbed Gail's chart.

"Do not resuscitate?" She asked, taken aback.

"Yes. You just need to check one of the boxes as to whether you want us to resuscitate or not if it comes to that."

"Definitely resuscitate, but if it's gotten to a point when you still haven't gotten her back and you're worried about brain damage, then let her go." The brunette said, choking back a sob. "She doesn't want to live if she can't be herself and take care of herself." Holly said, remembering the night that Gail had brought up what should happen if she were to be in a health emergency.

"Understood. We'll do the best we can, Miss Stewart, I assure you that much."

"Thank you."

Holly made her way to the bathroom quickly, shutting and locking the door before she started sobbing into her hands.

* * *

More than 5 hours later, Gail had miraculously pulled through surgery, being the fighter that she is. She had coded twice on the table, but they managed to get her back quickly.

Most of the officers had been told to go home, but a handful of them where still there, telling funny Gail stories to make everyone laugh a little.

Holly was definitely enjoying them, since she hadn't heard most of them before.

The doctor walked out to tell them that she was finally able to be seen by family members only, causing Holly to frown slightly. He did say that Gail would be knocked out from the anesthesia for at least another few hours.

Elaine and Steve both went to see Gail together, coming back about 10 minutes later.

"I think we're both going to head home for the night and come back when she's awake in the morning, you should all do the same." Elaine said as Steve nodded.

All of the officers said their goodbyes before Traci, Steve, Elaine, and Holly were the only ones left.

"Are you going to see her, Holly?" Elaine asked.

"I thought it was family only?"

"Honey, you are family. I'm glad that Gail found you; I like you a lot more than that tool, Nick Collins, she was engaged to for a while." Elaine said bluntly, causing Traci, Steve, and Holly to snort out a laugh.

"Thank you, Elaine. I think I'll spend the night in her room if that's okay."

"Are you sure? I can wait for you to visit her and then drop you off at your place." Traci said, since they had driven to the hospital together.

"That's alright; I'd rather stay here, thanks though."

"Alright, well call us if anything changes." Elaine said as she brought Holly into a hug.

* * *

Somewhere around 3am, after the initial shock of seeing a lifeless looking Gail connected to so many wires wore off, Holly managed to fall asleep with her hand on top of Gail's and her head on the bed. Between 6 and 7am, Holly felt something brush her head lightly; she quickly lifted her head and saw that it was Gail's hand.

"Hi Hol." The blonde croaked out as Holly stood up and offered her some water.

"I didn't miss dinner with the parents, did I?" Gail asked weakly.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're here. How do you feel?"

"Like a bullet played pinball with my organs." She said dryly, earning a chuckle from Holly.

"I'm so glad that you're okay. You gave us quite a scare there, baby." Holly said as she brushed some hair out of Gail's face.

"I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't, sweetie. It's not your fault; you were just proving that you always have your partner's back. I'm proud of you." She said as Gail gave a slight smile.

"But if you ever do that again, I'll kill you. Understood?" Holly said sincerely, not wanting to go through that whole ordeal all over again.

"Yes sir, Dr. Stewart, sir." Gail joked as she closed her eyes.

"There's the Gail I know and love." Holly said, leaning over to deposit a kiss on Gail's cheek.

"You missed, Hol." Gail said, eyes still closed.

Holly smirked before quickly leaned back over and gave her a short kiss on the lips.

"That'll do for now. Oh, and I love you too." Gail said slowly, "Quick question?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I don't still have to meet your parents, do I?"

"I don't get why you're so against meeting them, Gail. I met yours." Holly pointed out.

"I'm aware, but you're good with people, and parents. Can you just introduce them to me on our wedding day? Then they won't have a chance to get you to change your mind about me." Gail suggested, surprising even herself by bringing up marriage.

"Let me think about it...no. But we can hold off for a few months at least."

"Glad to hear it."

"So, our wedding day, huh?" Holly brought up with a huge smile.

"Don't get too excited until there's some crystalline carbon structure on your ring finger, nerd. Or whatever the science-y name for a diamond is." Gail said with a smirk as Holly's face almost shattered with the size of her smile.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Hope you liked it! **


	2. Chapter 2

**I was talked into extending this story a bit! Here's when Gail actually meets the parents! Enjoy and thanks for the Chapter 1 love!**

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit. Holly is going to kill me." Gail said as she held pressure on her now bleeding shoulder.

She had been out of the hospital for almost two weeks now, and was staying with Holly. The brunette had been incredible in helping Gail with whatever she needed, including bandage changes.

However, after taking the first week off of work to help take care of her girlfriend, Holly was needed back at work, especially since she was due to testify in court. Holly insisted that they find someone to stay with Gail during the day, but Gail was adamant that she would be fine alone.

Gail had been having nightmares ever since the shooting. They usually had to do with Holly being in a hostage situation and Gail being the only one there to help her. They were normally subdued dreams when she was sleeping next to Holly, their bodies touching gently so not to hurt Gail, but once Holly got up and started her day, or Gail took a nap, they got really bad.

Gail had gotten up with Holly to have some breakfast before the brunette had to go to court, and she went back to sleep after Holly left because the meds that she was on make her drowsy.

About an hour into her nap, the nightmare got so bad that she was violently thrashing around in Holly's bed, and ended up falling out of bed, hitting her stitched up shoulder on the bedside table, successfully causing the stitches to tear and a jolt of pain to be sent through Gail's body.

Gail walked into the bathroom to check it out in the mirror, frowning once she noticed that it was bleeding through the shirt that she was wearing, which happened to be one of Holly's medical conference t-shirts.

She quickly stripped off the shirt as gently as she could to avoid more pain and grabbed some gauze that Holly had in her first aid kit in the bathroom.

Gail was focusing on trying to get the bleeding to stop when she heard someone rifling through the kitchen drawers. Assuming it was Holly, she made her way out to the kitchen area.

"Hey, Hol? Can I ask you a medical related question?" The blonde asked as she walked into the kitchen, looking at the bleeding wound.

"Well, I'm not Holly, but I might be able to help." The older woman offered with a smile as she set down the ladle that was in her hand.

"Shit." Gail mumbled to herself. "Of course I would be standing in my sports bra when I meet Holly's mom." She added as Holly's mom gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Hello Mrs. Stewart, I'm Gail Peck." She offered, unable to shake her hand since she was currently putting pressure on her shoulder. "I don't suppose you're going to forgot that I'm standing here in my bra, are you?"

"It's unlikely, dear." She said with a smile, not unlike Holly's typical smile.

"Wonderful. Well, carry on with whatever you're doing. I'm just going to go die quietly…from embarrassment." She said bluntly with a head nod, getting ready to walk back to Holly's room.

"Gail?" Holly's mom called after her.

"Yes?"

"Your medical question? I am a nurse; did you reinjure your shoulder?" She asked, nodding to where there was some blood seeping through the gauze.

"I fell out of bed a little while ago and ripped open my stitches." She shrugged.

"Oh, honey." She said sympathetically.

"It's alright, Mrs. Stewart. This means that maybe I really will die and then Holly can find a girlfriend who doesn't meet her mother in a bra."

"Call me Diane, honey. Why don't I take you to the hospital to get that stitched back up?"

"Oh, you don't have to. I'm sure it'll stop bleeding eventually."

"You really are stubborn aren't you?"

"One of the many lovely traits that make up Gail Peck, yes." She confirmed sarcastically, internally yelling at herself for not being on her best behavior.

"Stubbornness can be good at times. This is not one of them though; that isn't going to stop bleeding. It shouldn't take too long to be stitched up, let's go." Diane said, grabbing her purse off of the counter.

"Yeah, Holly's gonna kill me. And never let me stay home alone." Gail confirmed as she walked back into Holly's bedroom.

"You're probably right. Where is that daughter of mine anyways?"

"She's testifying in court all week actually." Gail answered, rifling through her closet to find a shirt she didn't really care about. She ended up just throwing an old zip up hoodie on because it hurt less on her arm.

"You ready?" Diane asked the now completely clothed Gail.

"I am. After you." She offered, opening the door for Holly's mom.

* * *

"Officer Peck, I was hoping to not see you again so soon." Gail's nurse, Janet, said as she saw the blonde walk into the ER.

"Same here, Janet. How are you?"

"It looks like I should be asking you that question."

"Minor accident, AKA me being clumsy. I may have opened my stitches a tiny bit." She said nonchalantly, shrugging, causing Diane to smile at her daughter's girlfriend.

"Alright. You know the drill. Jacket off, and hop up onto the bed. The doctor will be in here soon to stitch you back up."

"Thanks Janet."

"Of course, doll. Where's your girl today?" She asked with a smile.

"She's back at work this week." Gail answered as Janet nodded and left.

"I promise, I normally don't just swing by Holly's apartment unannounced. Her dad and I are having friends over for dinner tomorrow and I couldn't find my ladle, among other things. And Holly wasn't answering her phone, so I just came over to borrow some things." Diane explained once Janet had left.

"Mrs. Stewart, you really don't need to explain yourself to me. It's Holly's apartment and she's your daughter."

"You're just how I imagined you'd be." Diane said with a smirk.

"A bitch?" Gail ventured a guess as she frowned slightly.

"Straight forward." Diane confirmed with a laugh. "Holly thinks the world of you, you know."

"It amazes me that she does, but I know. You really do have an incredible daughter, Mrs. Stewart. She's amazing." Gail said, smiling unconsciously at the topic of Holly, which didn't go unnoticed by Diane.

"It's Diane, honey. I've seen you in a bra, that gives you the right to call me by my first name, I think." She reminded the blonde who looked mortified.

"I'm never going to live this down. This is possibly worse than getting shot. Meeting your very put together girlfriend's mom in a bra while bleeding through gauze. You must think I'm a wreck."

"I think you've been through a lot in the last few weeks, Gail. It's understandable. I also understand that you saved your partner's life, and that shows to your true character."

"Eh, it's just part of the job." She shrugged off.

"Not always, Gail. Not all police officers would do what you did; we all like to think we could jump in front of a bullet for someone else, but sometimes people freeze or there's no possible way to do it; even when it's your job. You kept your cool though and had your partner's back, and that's a big deal."

"He would do the same for me." She said with a head nod, not knowing what else to say.

* * *

Less than an hour later, Gail and Diane were back in the car, headed back to Holly's apartment.

Normally it would have taken hours just to be seen, but since Gail is a cop, she was seen faster than normal.

"Is there any way we can forget that today happened and I can get a do over at meeting you and your husband? I really want to do it right." Gail asked tentatively as they turned onto Holly's street.

"You have."

"I really haven't, ma'am. I got shot before we were supposed to meet the first time and then we finally meet and I'm bleeding and in a bra."

"You've been yourself though, and not some fake person who's just putting on a show. And I appreciate that. Plus, all Holly does is rave about you, so we had a good feeling about you already."

"Well I promise to be fully clothed when I meet your husband. I will always make sure to wear shirts when I leave the bedroom from now on."

"That's good, honey. Now what time are you expecting Holly back tonight?" Diane asked suddenly.

"Probably about 8pm. She's staying after court to prepare for tomorrow."

"What are you doing for dinner?" Diane asked as she and Gail started making their way up the stairs.

"Holly made me dinner already, I just have to heat it up."

"Oh, nonsense. I'll make you a real dinner, one that's fresh." Diane insisted.

"No, Diane, that's too much work. I'm really fine with just heating up what she made."

"Well I'm not. How about I invite Holly's father over and the three of us can have dinner?"

"You mean, without Holly?" Gail asked, gulping harshly.

"There's no need to look scared, Gail. You're doing just fine." She assured the blonde.

"I really don't think I am; normally Holly acts as a wonderful buffer."

"Well I'd like to get to know the real you some more, so you just go get settled on the couch and I'll call Tom."

"Okay, Diane. Let me know if you need help with anything." Gail said, knowing to not fight it anymore.

* * *

Hours later, Gail heard the front door open and smiled when she saw a tall, brown haired man walk in.

She stood up as quickly as she could and started walking over to the man who had a smile on his face.

"Hi Mr. Stewart, I'm Gail Peck." She said nervously with her hand extended to shake his.

"Call me Tom, Gail. How are you doing?" He asked, looking up to the blonde's shoulder, which was covered by her t-shirt.

"Well I'm wearing a shirt now, so I'd say I'm good." She said, frowning when she noticed the look of confusion on his face.

"Okay. Well that is a good thing, I guess." He said slowly as Gail shook her head and lowered it into her hands.

"Your wife met me earlier today and I wasn't wearing a shirt. Not because I'm a free spirit, because I'm not, I just-" She rambled on until she heard Diane yell at her husband from the kitchen.

"I'm just kidding, Gail. Diane told me what happened. It's understandable though with everything you've been through lately. But hey-"

"At least I was wearing pants?" Gail finished for him, causing him to laugh.

"Not quite what I was going to say, but that'll do. You're witty, Gail. I like that." He added with a kind smile.

"I'm glad, otherwise we would be in trouble."

* * *

Around 6:30pm, the three of them sat down for dinner at the kitchen table and Gail was pleased with how normal it felt.

She was used to feeling on edge all the time with new people, but she felt comfortable with them, just like she had with Holly when they first started getting to know each other.

They had just finished telling a story about Holly when she was a young kid before Gail finally spoke up.

"Okay, who are you really? Because I'm pretty sure that meeting the parents isn't supposed to be this conflict free."

"I understand that when Holly met your parents it was pretty conflict free." Diane pointed out.

"Yes, but that's Holly. She's awesome. And this is me, I always manage to mess up meeting the parents somehow. I mean, you already saw me half naked. I feel like I should be messing this up even more."

"Stop being so hard on yourself, Gail. We both think that you're lovely and-"

"No one ever thinks I'm lovely." She pointed out truthfully.

"Well our daughter does, and she has great taste. We think that you're very sure of yourself and we know that you will take care of our daughter. That's all we ask." Diane said before she took a sip of water.

"Yeah, and you're not an ass kisser, like Holly's previous girlfriends. I can't stand ass kissers." Tom said with a look of disgust as Gail smirked.

"Well you don't have to worry about that, Tom, it's never been in my nature to be an ass kisser." Gail assured him.

* * *

At 8:30pm, Holly sighed as she walked up the stairs to her apartment. Court had gone well, but the prep for tomorrow lasted longer than she anticipated and she was antsy to get home and check on Gail.

She couldn't wait to curl up with Gail on the couch and watch some movie where Gail would critique the cops and she would critique the medical aspect of it.

Normally she got home to a quiet Gail who was either flipping through a magazine or watching something quietly on the TV. Occasionally, she would also come home to a crazed Gail who was playing video games.

However, as she was walking up the steps, she smiled brightly when she heard the best heavy and happy laugh coming from her girlfriend, accompanied by her saying something that Holly couldn't quite hear.

"Must be watching quite the TV show." Holly guessed as she went to open the front door.

"Mom. Dad. What are you doing here?" Holly asked nervously when she spotted her parents, glancing at Gail who had a shy smile on her face.

"Just swapping stories with your lovely girlfriend about you and your sister and how you used to put on karaoke shows for us." Diane said as Gail started to giggle again.

"How long have you been here for?" She asked, worried that they had overstayed their welcome with Gail.

"Well I've been here since about 10:30, and your dad has been here since 5:30." Diane said, causing Holly's eyes to widen comically.

"Why don't we go get the ice cream?" Diane said, nudging her husband.

"Yeah, alright." He said, getting up and kissing Holly on the cheek before he followed after his wife.

"Hi babe." Holly said slowly as she made her way over to her girlfriend.

"Hi Britney Spears." The blonde said before she broke out into laughter again.

"They told you about, did they?"

"Oh yeah. Among other things. Your parents are great, Hol."

"I'm glad you think so. They seem to like you."

"Yeah?" Gail asked tentatively.

"Yeah. Otherwise they wouldn't have stuck around so long." Holly confirmed.

"I missed you today. It was nice to get to visit with your mom though." Gail said as Holly smiled.

"I missed you, too. Now give me a kiss before they get back here." Holly said with a smile, leaning into Gail.

Little did they know, her parents were observing the two from the kitchen. Diane smiled happily when she saw the smiles from both of the girls. She smiled even wider, when she saw Gail carefully tuck a strand of Holly's hair behind her ear before Holly kissed her.

* * *

The four of them sat on the couch, eating ice cream and visiting, when Holly placed her hand on Gail's thigh, squeezing it lightly.

Gail gave her a small smile before looking back to Holly's parents.

"What's this?" Holly asked suddenly, getting everyone's attention.

"What?" Gail asked, confused.

"This. I thought I cut them all off." Holly said as she grabbed the hospital bracelet on her girlfriend's wrist.

"You did. This may be a new one." Gail said slowly, avoiding eye contact with the brunette.

"Are you serious?" Holly asked frantically.

"Maybe?" Gail said, unsure of what Holly was going to do next.

"What happened? Are you okay?" The brunette asked, looking at Gail's body before she cupped the blonde's face to look in her eyes.

"I'm fine, I just accidentally ripped some stitches, so they just had to be re-stitched. No big deal."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Holly asked.

"I promise. Everything's fine."

"Alright. I'll get the full story from you later. So, any other interesting things happen today?"

"Nope." Gail said, popping the 'p,' after she looked at both Tom and Diane who shook their heads subtly with knowing smiles.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure you're ready, Gail? I mean, there's no shame in taking some more time." Holly said as she followed Gail around the blonde's bedroom.

The two had been dating for 8 months now and they hadn't spent a night apart from each other in who knows how long. Most of the time they stayed at Holly's because it was quieter, but they stayed at Gail's the night before because it was the first night that Chloe had been released from the hospital.

"It's been two months, Holly. There are only so many TV shows I can watch and re-watch. I need to go back to work. I think the real question is are you ready?" Gail asked as she finished buttoning her shirt.

The blonde looked up at her girlfriend who was suddenly very quiet, which was not a 'Holly' trait.

"No, I'm not. I'm not ready to have to worry about getting a call about you or walking into the station and finding out that you're hurt again." The brunette said, placing her glasses on top of her head so she could rub her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Holly. I really am, but this is my job. I'll be incredibly careful though, I promise. I'd like to avoid getting shot again. And I like being able to come home to you every night, alright? It will be fine."

"Uh, why couldn't you have been like a postal worker or something? Something with no drama or adrenalin being released." Holly mumbled as she finished buttoning her jeans.

"I love you, Hol, but you've got to stop worrying or it's going to eat you alive, alright? Now how about we go into work, I will kiss you up against a locker, we will part ways, and then see each other for dinner? It's just going to be a normal day. Frank will probably have me on desk duty anyways." The blonde pointed out to her girlfriend.

"Fine. Let's go."

* * *

Hours later, Holly was looking through a microscope at some samples from the latest crime scene when she heard someone walking down the hall.

She looked up with a smile, hoping it would be Gail coming to say hi, but her smile dropped somewhat when she saw that it was Traci.

"Geez, you know how to make a girl feel welcome." The woman joked as Holly gave her a smile.

"Sorry, Traci."

"It's fine, I get it. You're worried about Gail; but you have no need to be, because Frank put her in Booking for the day."

"How'd that go over?" Holly asked with a laugh.

"Let's just say that she's back to her snarky self at the moment. Anyways, I was just coming down to see how the evidence is coming. And to personally invite you to The Penny tonight to celebrated your girl's first day back and Chloe getting out of the hospital." Traci said, noticing Holly's smile widen when she said 'your girl.'

"I will definitely be there. What time?"

"We're dragging Gail there around 6:30, right after we're done working."

"I might be a few minutes late because of all the work these detectives have been throwing at me." She said with a smirk as Traci just shrugged.

* * *

Holly got up to go have lunch with Brett, one of her coworkers, and when she came back she checked her phone before she started getting back to work, noticing a voicemail.

"Hey, it's me. I just escaped to the bathroom. Frank put me in booking today and I'm about to book myself into a cell because that would be better than having to do all this paperwork." The blonde said, thoroughly irritated, causing Holly to smile, "Anyways, we're all going to the Penny tonight and I would love to see your gorgeous face there. Damn, I have to get back to work. Love you."

Holly smiled so brightly once she finished listening to Gail's message that she listened to it again before she put her phone away and headed back to the microscope.

Hour later, she was about done with paperwork when she heard her phone vibrating.

"Hey little brother, how are you?" She asked with a smile as she picked up the phone.

"I'm good, Hol. How are you?"

"Good, I'm just at work. Can I call you back tomorrow and we can talk for longer?" She asked.

"Ouch. I'm not important enough to get a call back later tonight?"

"No can do; going to The Penny, this cop bar tonight. For celebratory drinks."

"Well that does sound like more fun than talking to me on the phone. Yeah, just call me tomorrow I guess. Have a good night." He said before she wished him the same and hung up.

* * *

Gail had already had a few drinks within 20 minutes of getting to The Penny. Officers were buying her some as a welcome back, and she never turned down free alcohol.

She got up to get a round of drinks for her friends from the bar when a man approached her.

"Hi. Can I buy you a drink?" He asked with a smile.

"Are you a cop?"

"I am not. What gave me away?"

"I've never seen you in here before."

"And how could you possibly remember everyone you've seen?" He asked with a smirk.

"I'm a cop. It's my job." She said seriously, "But I'm fine without your drink." She added as she told the bartender her order of 5 different drinks.

"Wow, you sure are thirsty." He looked alarmed as she kept spouting off drink orders.

"It's for me and my friends." She pointed out obviously.

"Does anyone ever tell you that you're beautiful? Because you are. Stunning, really."

"Thanks for that, but I should get back to my friends." She said, jerking her head in the direction of her friends, still waiting for all of her drinks.

"Come on, you haven't even given me a chance."

"That's because I'm not interested." She said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm in a relationship."

"Who's the lucky guy?" He asked as Gail breathed out sharply, getting really annoyed with this man.

"That would be me. May I ask why you're flirting with my girlfriend? That's pretty rude." Holly said as she stared at the man.

"No way. This is your girl?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yeah." She said, causing Gail to smile.

"How did you manage to pull a chick like this?" He asked, causing Gail to frown.

The blonde was about to say something when Holly beat her to it.

"Don't speak like that, you're college educated, Josh." Holly said, effectively confusing Gail.

"Not as educated as you, Hol." He said as she laughed and he brought her into a hug.

"Well you must be the famous Gail Peck then." The tall, brown haired man said, sticking his hand out to shake hers, "I'm Josh Stewart."

"Stewart? Well, it seems like the Stewart siblings have the same taste in girls. That must've been interesting growing up." Gail said with an indifferent look on her face.

"Not really, I always got the girl." Holly said cockily as she slapped her brother's arm.

"It's true." He said, shrugging.

"Hi babe, how was your first day back?" Holly asked, as she leaned in and kissed Gail on the cheek.

"It was alright. Pretty slow. How was yours?" She asked after she ordered Holly's drink for her.

"Good. Josh, what are you doing here?" She asked suddenly.

"Well I came for a surprise visit for a few nights. I have a few business meetings and I thought I'd check in. That's why I called, and you said you were going to The Penny, so here I am." He said with the signature 'Stewart smile,' but it didn't fill Gail with warmth like Holly's did.

"I'm assuming you're staying at my place then?" She asked, referring to her guest bedroom.

"If that's alright. I don't want to get in the way." He said, gesturing between the two girls.

"I'm staying at my place, so you won't be in the way." Gail said, turning her head to her friends who were yelling at her. "I'll meet you over there. They want their drinks."

"Who's he?" Traci asked as Gail walked over and sat down next to her.

"Holly's brother, apparently."

"Hey, at least you were wearing a shirt this time." Traci said with a laugh.

"That is not funny, Trace! Don't tell the world!"

"Does Holly still not know?" She asked through her laughter.

"Of course not! She doesn't need to know that her weirdo girlfriend met her mom in a bra."

* * *

"I'm going to the Washroom, I'll be back in a minute." Gail said, looking at Holly before she left.

"Yeah, I'm going to go wash my hands." Holly said slowly once she saw her girlfriend enter the washroom.

"Sure you are." Traci said with a laugh as Holly fake glared at her.

"I missed you today." Holly whispered in Gail's ear once they were both alone in the washroom.

"We should just leave. Go curl up on your couch and watch some documentary that you have taped." Gail suggested as she left feather light kisses on the brunette's neck.

"You have no idea how fantastic that sounds, but my brother is here."

"Right." Gail said, pulling back with a pout.

"You know, you can still stay over. Things don't need to change just because he's here." Holly pointed out as Gail shrugged.

"I need to spend some time at home. The guys want to have a video game marathon."

"Mmhm, and you call me a nerd." Holly pointed out as she leaned in to kiss Gail behind the ear, in the spot that never failed to make her groan.

"Alright, you can stop that. Don't get me all worked up in the bathroom of a bar." Gail said, pulling away.

"Yeah, I should probably get back out there." Holly added, giving the blonde one more kiss, "You coming?"

"Not yet, I actually have to go to the bathroom." She said before Holly nodded and walked out the door.

* * *

Later that night, Holly was at home watching a hockey game with her brother while Gail, Dov, Chris, and Chloe were playing video games.

The guys specifically told Gail to take it easy on Chloe, since she had just gotten out of the hospital and Gail had said she would try.

However, Chloe actually turned out to be an expert video game player and was giving the blonde a run for her money, much to the amusement of Dov and Chris.

Gail was yelling at the screen when Dov told her that her phone was ringing.

"Answer it, then." She yelled as she tried to find a hiding spot on the game.

"Hi Holly." Dov said after he glanced at the caller ID.

"Hey Dov. Is Gail there?" The chipper brunette asked just in time to hear Gail yelling in the background, "Video games getting heated, I take it?" She asked with a laugh.

"That's a word you could use to describe it." He said, "Do you want me to ask her something for you, or do you want me to have her call you back later?"

"Can you just ask her if she can do dinner tomorrow night with my parents and brother and me?"

"Sure. Just a second." Dov said, muting the call before he spoke to Gail, "Hey Gail?"

"What, Epstein?" She shouted while slamming her controller buttons.

"Holly wants you to go to dinner with her family tomorrow night. Can you go?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." She said quickly, brushing it off.

"She said she could do that, Holly." Dov passed along the message.

"Perfect, thanks Dov. I hope she calms down a little bit soon." The brunette said with a laugh.

"Me too. Have a good night, Holly." He said before he ended the call.

Chloe and Gail's game had finally ended when Gail turned to Dov with a panicked look on her face.

"Wait. Did you say Holly called? What did I agree to a minute ago?" She asked, not remembering what he had asked her.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading/reviewing! You're all the best! Hope you enjoyed it! **


	4. Chapter 4

"Uhh, why could this assignment not been available like a year ago?" Gail asked as she looked at Traci.

"Gail, can you just think about it, please? We really need someone and all our other women cops have prior engagements, so they can't commit to it."

"So that leaves me?" Gail asked dryly.

"Pretty much."

"What about Andy?"

"She only just got back from a rough undercover op a few months ago. Best doesn't want her going in right now."

"Well what happens if I say no?" Gail asked.

"What happened to the old Peck? The one that was dying for some undercover work?"

"She met someone called Lunchbox." Gail said sharply.

"I'm sure Holly would understand." Traci said with a smirk.

"Who would take it if I say no?" She asked slowly.

"I would have to." Traci said, looking down at her paperwork.

"Damn it. Fine, I won't make you do that and be away from Leo. Damn you and your adorable son, Traci."

"Thank you, Gail. I owe you." Traci said with a huge smile.

"You bet your ass you do. Expect an interesting phone call from Holly later. I'm sure she won't be pleased about this situation."

"Well she's welcome to come hang out with me, Steve, and Leo while you're gone." Traci said, "She can still get some Peck time in."

"Not exactly the Peck she's interested in, but she'll probably hang out with you guys. Alright. Just tell me when and where."

"So here's the bad news." Traci said slowly.

"What now?" The blonde asked forcefully.

"You have to leave tomorrow. And you know the drill, no phones, pictures, identification of your own, nothing."

"You really know how to spring this on a girl, don't you?"

"I'm sorry, we just finally had the chance to get two of our guys in there."

"Two of your guys?"

"Oh, did I not mention that earlier?" Traci said, suddenly very interested in the pen that was on her desk.

"No. Now who am I going to be stuck with for a month?"

"Nick." Traci said, slowly rolling her chair away from Gail.

"Are you serious? If Andy can't go under, he shouldn't be able to!" Gail argued.

"He requested it, before he knew you were going to be in on the op." Traci shrugged it off.

"Wonderful." Gail said icily.

"You will be undercover as a couple." She added as Gail started laughing loudly, confusing Traci.

"Oh, Holly is going to kill you. And I might just let her. She works with scalpels all day, you know. Get nervous." The blonde said as she stood up and walked out of the office to head over to the lab.

* * *

"Hey, you." The brunette said with a smile as she looked over at Gail, who was leaning up against the doorway. "How long have you been there?"

"Just a minute." She said, walking into her girlfriend's office. The blonde loved to watch Holly work, because she always looked so determined and adorable, especially with her glasses on.

"How's your day been?" Holly asked, setting her pen down with a smile.

"Interesting to say the least."

"What happened? And you're still coming over for dinner tonight, right?"

"I am, but it'll be the last dinner that we have together for a while." Gail said seriously, with a slight frown.

"That's not funny, Gail." Holly said as she stood up.

"I know. I'm not joking." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why the hell not?" The brunette said, starting to get somewhat angry.

"I have to do an undercover op in a different city."

"Are you serious? For how long?"

"Could be a few weeks, may be a month, maybe longer. I'm not sure." She said truthfully since undercover ops are always unpredictable.

"Why you?"

"Because it was me or Traci and I wasn't about to make her leave her son behind to go do this."

"Fair enough." Holly said, calming down slightly, "How dangerous is this operation?"

"It's a drug ring bust." She said shortly, even though she's technically not supposed to give Holly any details about the case.

"You're joking." She said as Gail shook her head. "Gail, these people always have guns and shoot everybody!"

"How would you know?" Gail asked with a smirk.

"Well they do in the movies!"

"Yes, Holly, because all movies are completely true. Look, this is what I'm trained for, alright?"

"I'm aware. Thank you for the reminder though, Gail." She said cattily, upset that this was happening.

"Cool it, nerd. It's a done deal. I have to go, and I'm leaving tomorrow. So can we please just enjoy our last 24 hours together, please?" She asked as Holly walked over to her slowly.

"Of course, I'm sorry." She said as she walked over and gave Gail a quick peck on the lips.

"Plus, I'll have a partner undercover with me. So I have someone watching my six, alright? There's nothing to worry about."

"Who is going with you?" She asked curiously.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that." Gail mumbled unhappily, "Uh, Nick is actually." She said, closing her eyes and bracing herself for Holly's jealous side to come out.

"What are you doing, Gail?" Holly asked with a laugh, as she watched her girlfriend open one eye cautiously.

"Bracing myself for you to be upset."

"Do you still have feelings for Nick?" Holly asked simply, smirking when Gail looked disgusted at the thought of it.

"Of course not!"

"Exactly. And is there any reason for me to worry about the two of you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Don't be ridiculous." Gail answered back.

"So why do I need to be upset?"

"You don't, I guess."

"I may be a little jealous that he gets to spend however long with you while I don't, but we can still talk, right?"

"Actually, Hol, we can't. We have to sever all ties; absolutely no communication."

"For a month?" Holly asked, incredibly unhappy again.

"It's not like I wanted this! I tried to get out of it, because I didn't want to leave you for that long, but I have to."

"Gail, it's your job and you love it, I understand. It just sucks, that's all. We'll work it out though." Holly said sincerely.

"So you'll wait for me?" Gail asked shyly as she looked down at her shoes.

"Now who's being ridiculous?" Holly asked with a smirk, "I love you, Gail Peck. And a month apart is not going to change that. You'd have to do a lot to get rid of me, cop."

"I'm glad, nerd. I love you too. And I really will miss you."

* * *

"Trace, can you please just tell me something?" Holly begged as she sat in Traci's office on her lunch break.

"I really can't, Holly, I'm sorry. I don't even know what's going on with the op at this point." Traci admitted as Holly frowned.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, it's just been a long time since I've gotten to speak to her." Holly said, looking down at her hands.

"I know it's hard, but it really should be over soon."

"It was supposed to be done like 2 weeks ago, Traci." Holly said sharply.

"You can't rush these ops, otherwise someone will get hurt. We're making sure that they're both okay and getting the job done."

"I know you are, it's just-"

"Been too long since you've seen your snarky blonde?" Traci finished for her with a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah." Holly whispered back.

"How about you come and have dinner with me, Steve, and Leo this weekend? We can all catch up." Traci offered with a smile.

"Thanks, I would, but I have a bridal shower to go out of town. Next weekend?"

"It's a date." Traci said as Holly got up and started heading back to her lab for the day.

* * *

A few days later, Holly found herself in Grafton for her cousin's bridal shower. She had just finished picking up a few last minutes things from the store when she started walking to her car.

The brunette was looking down into her purse, not noticing the person walking towards her. She only knew that there was someone else on the path when her shoulder was slammed into, causing her to drop one of the bags and the contents to spill out.

"You should really watch where you're going." A familiar voice said to her, causing to look up and see her favorite blonde standing in front of her.

"You ran into me." She said, not knowing what else to say. What else she could say.

Gail crouched down to help collect Holly's things. The brunette quickly leaned down as well, enjoying the close proximity that she was in with her girlfriend.

"You doing alright, Hol?"

"Yeah. You? You're being safe?"

"Definitely." She said, handing Holly her bag back.

She stood up quickly once she heard Nick calling her to head back to their apartment.

The blonde quickly got up and shot the brunette one last look before she took off to follow her partner.

Holly was relieved that Gail was alright, and looked good, but it just made her crave her more.

Holly got back to her cousin's house and started unpacking the things and setting them on the counter.

Her heart immediately started beating faster once she noticed a slip of paper with messy handwriting that she'd grown to love on it.

_I'm sorry I can't hug or kiss you, but I don't know who could be watching. I miss you so much. The op is almost over, hopefully within the next few weeks. I'm sorry it's taken longer than expected. Nick and I haven't kissed or done anything, I swear. I'll see you soon. I love you. _

_XO,_

_Gail_

Holly found herself smiling like a fool since she had gotten a letter from the very prepared Gail, who must've seen the brunette and quickly wrote a note before she purposely walked into the girl and slipped the paper into Holly's bag.

* * *

Holly walked into her house, throwing her coat, purse, and office work on the kitchen table on the way to her fridge. She started making herself some dinner, and then grabbed a large glass of wine.

It had officially been 7 weeks since Holly had had any type of _real _communication with her favorite blonde and she was definitely in a pissy mood almost all the time now.

Long distance was one thing, but not getting to talk at all was another.

However, across town, Gail was walking into 15th division for the first time in 7 weeks. The case had finally been closed, ending in the arrests of 13 people affiliated with drug smuggling and dealing, among other things.

Gail was on cloud 9 from excitement of finally getting to slip back into her normal life. As soon as they got to the station, she and Nick went their separate ways to shower and get into clean clothes.

The takedown had gone smoothly for the most part. Gail would have a few bruises on her torso for a while, but she wasn't seriously injured. Nick had a sprained wrist, but was alright other than that.

The two were then funneled into separate interrogation rooms to go over, in detail, everything that had happened over the past 7 weeks, which worked well for Gail since she'd been keeping a journal.

* * *

After 3 hours of sorting everything out at the station, she was finally allowed to go home with a mandatory week off, given to her by Frank.

She didn't even think about it once she got her car back, she simply started driving to Holly's place, not noticing the fact that it was 1am.

The blonde pulled up to her girlfriend's house within minutes and smiled as she looked down at her key ring, which contained one of Holly's house keys on it.

The blonde had to hop Holly's fence and unlock the back door since her girlfriend had put the bolt in the front door. Gail didn't mind though since she was the one that actually got Holly to start properly locking up at night.

Once she got inside, she slipped off her shoes and softly made her way to the downstairs bathroom. She brushed her teeth and slipped on her pajamas.

The blonde turned off the light, leaving her bag in there, made sure everything was locked, then made her way upstairs.

She smiled immediately once she slowly opened Holly's door. The curtains were open, because Holly loved to fall asleep with the moonlight shining in, and wake up with the sun coming through.

Gail was able to see Holly clearly because of the moon being so bright, causing her to notice that the brunette was wearing one of Gail's hoodies.

The blonde smiled, shaking her head slowly as she walked over to Holly's bed and crawled half on top of the brunette, leaving soft kisses on Holly's neck.

The brunette moaned unconsciously, causing Gail to continue with what she was doing.

"Babe?" She asked sleepily a few seconds later.

"I'm back." Gail said in a happy whisper, causing Holly to pull her in for a tight hug, followed by a kiss on the lips.

"For good?" The brunette asked quietly.

"I am. I missed you way too much; there's no way I'd ever volunteer for an undercover op." The blonde said, squeezing Holly's hand.

"Good. Please don't decide that you want to become a full time undercover cop, I don't know if I could handle that." Holly admitted as Gail tucked a piece of Holly's hair behind her ear.

"I don't plan on it."

"So how are you? Everything went smoothly?" Holly asked, checking over Gail as best she could with just the moonlight lighting up the room.

"Good, it just got lonely at times. How are you?"

"Same. Everyday life isn't the same without you and your attitude." Holly answered as Gail pretended to look mad.

"I'm so glad that I don't have to pretend to be Nick's girlfriend anymore. I'd much rather be yours." Gail said, leaning forward to kiss Holly on the lips again.

"So everything went well? Nick's okay?" Holly asked, generally curious.

"Everything is good now, and Nick is fine. No kissing or funny business of any kind happened while I was gone, I promise." Gail said, looking into Holly's eyes sincerely.

"Gail, I trust you, alright? I wouldn't be in this relationship if I didn't trust you."

"I really love you, you know that?" She asked with a smile.

"I do, but it's been too long since I've heard you say it consistently, so feel free to say it as often as you want." Holly said with a pleased smile on her face. "I love you too, Gail."

"Well duh. How could you not? I am a Peck after all." She said jokingly.

"I've missed this. Things haven't been nearly as funny, honest, or sarcastic with you gone."

"Well good; I'm glad no one stepped in to fill my shoes." She added, still somewhat insecure.

"Trust me, no one will ever even come close." The brunette answered, leaning forward slightly to place a kiss on Gail's cheek.

"I really wanted to hug you that day outside the store. Why were in Grafton though?"

"My cousin's bridal shower. And I can relate, I wanted to kiss you, but I'm sure your coworkers wouldn't have been pleased with my blowing your operation just to kiss you."

"Probably not, but feel free to kiss or hug me anytime you want now." Gail added with a smile.

"I'd like that." Holly said, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Gail's neck, "Do you have to work tomorrow, Officer Peck?"

"I actually have the week off, Dr. Stewart."

"Perfect, I'll call in sick for tomorrow. I want you all to myself."

"I like the sound of that." Gail said with a smirk, "Maybe I can persuade you to take the rest of the week off."

"That may just be possible. You look tired, baby. Have you been sleeping?" The brunette asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not really. I was either working or having nightmares. But I had nightmares most nights, and the nights where I didn't have nightmares, I just didn't sleep."

"Gail." Holly said sadly, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I'm here now, so they should stop. They're always better or nonexistent when I'm with you. You keep me grounded I guess."

"Why don't you hop under these covers and we can get some sleep?"

"There are other things we could catch up on, you know what I mean?" She said suggestively, with a raised eyebrow.

"I do know what you mean. However, that can wait until tomorrow; we'll have the whole day together, which means we can spend it however we please. And 'in bed' is an option."

"So many words, nerd. Too many for this late at night." Gail said with a smirk as Holly leaned forward to place another sweet kiss on Gail's lips.

Gail rolled off the bed and then slipped under the covers, immediately gravitating towards Holly, who pulled her in. The blonde ended up laying half on top of Holly, with her head over Holly's heart, making it able to hear her girlfriend's heartbeat.

"I love you, Gail." Holly said after a little over a minute of silence, only to be met by nothing. She glanced down quickly, smiling when she saw that the blonde had already fallen asleep.

The brunette quickly placed a peck on Gail's forehead before she started drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, I appreciate it! Hope you liked this chapter! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for taking so long to update, but school is getting crazy busy! Let me know if you want to see something specific happen with this story, or have any one-shot like ideas that I could write in for a chapter! Hope you enjoy it! **

* * *

The next morning, Gail woke up alone with a slight frown on her face. She had the best night of sleep that she'd had since she left for the undercover operation and was hoping to wake up next to her girlfriend.

She glanced over at the clock next to Holly's bed and noted that it was 10:37am, which meant that her girlfriend had probably been up for 2 hours already in order to call in sick for work.

The blonde rolled out of bed and put her hair up into a messy ponytail, heading downstairs to find Holly.

As soon as she made it halfway down the flight of stairs, she smelled coffee and sighed happily. As she made her way into the kitchen, she smiled as she saw Holly dancing and singing along to the quiet music coming from her phone.

The brunette hadn't heard the blonde come in since she was currently making pancakes for said blonde, so Gail took the opportunity to sneak up on the brunette.

She slowly crept over to where Holly was standing and slipped her arms around the brunette's waist, smiling when she jumped slightly, but then quickly melted into Gail's arms.

The blonde squeezed her tightly, leaving kisses on the back of Holly's neck since her hair was up in a messy bun on the top of her head.

She continued to leave soft kisses along Holly's neck and shoulder blades, occasionally nipping at her skin, causing the brunette beauty to moan happily.

"Alright, Peck, that's enough. You don't want me burning your pancakes, do you?" Holly asked with a chuckle as Gail just mumbled into her shoulder.

She flipped a few of the pancakes, before setting the spatula down and turning around in her girlfriend's arms, bringing her arms up to rest on Gail's shoulders.

She saw the goofy grin on Gail's face and her heart almost melted.

"I've missed this." Holly said simply, leaning forward to connect their lips sweetly, earning a hum of approval from the blonde.

After about 30 seconds of kissing, Holly pulled away with a big smile, nodding her head in the direction of the coffee maker.

Gail slowly walked over and poured them both a cup, fixing them both to their likings, while Holly put the pancakes on two plates for them.

"So you took the day off?" Gail asked as she sat down across the table from Holly, stretching her legs out, smiling when Holly did the same, letting them rest against each other's.

"I actually took the whole week off." Holly said with a smirk, as Gail looked somewhat shocked.

"What? The infamous workaholic pathologist actually took a whole week off of work?" Gail asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? Who am I to turn down a great offer from a gorgeous blonde?" The brunette said with a shrug.

"You must be a very wise woman, then."

"We'll see after the week is up." She added with a wink.

"I feel like we should stock up on supplies this morning, and not leave the house for a week. What do you say?" The blonde asked with a growing smile as she noticed Holly blushing slightly.

"That sounds great, babe, really, but we have some plans this week." She added, as Gail looked incredibly confused.

"We do? No one even knows I'm back, do they?" She said slowly.

"Josh is coming in again for some more meetings and he's bringing his girlfriend this time."

"He has a girlfriend now?" Gail asked, waiting for the rest of it.

"He does. They've only been dating for about a month, but he wants Officer Peck's approval on this girl. He doesn't care about his sister's approval, just yours." Holly said, feigning annoyance.

In all reality, she was incredibly glad that her brother and her girlfriend had hit it off as much as they had. After the initial awkwardness of Josh hitting on Gail at The Penny, the two really bonded.

_Gail had spent the first night that Josh was there at her own apartment, but quickly went back to Holly's the next night since she didn't sleep a wink without Holly there. _

_The second night that Josh was there, Holly had to work late for the detectives on an important case and didn't get home until 9pm. _

_The brunette walked up to her front door, smiling as she unlocked the door since she heard her girlfriend and brother screaming at the TV. _

_She walked into the house and straight to the living room after setting down her things and taking off her shoes. _

_She shook her head when she saw an empty pizza box with empty beer bottles in it sprawled out on her coffee table in the living room. The brunette stared at her brother and Gail playing some X-box game that Holly had never seen before, that Gail had apparently brought over from her apartment._

_The two were screaming at the TV as they were apparently trying to kill each other, and neither had noticed Holly's entrance, causing the brunette to chuckle at how into the game they really were. _

"_Hah! Yes! I killed you, Stewart! Take that!" Gail yelled as she stood up and threw her controller onto the couch as Josh groaned and hid his head in his hands. _

"_Way to go, baby." Holly said with a smirk, walking further into the living room. _

"_Holly, hey." Gail said softly as she opened her arms for the brunette to walk into them. _

"_Not at your place again tonight?" Holly asked with a small smile, knowing the blonde only stayed at her house so she and Josh could visit alone. _

"_No, that was stupid." Gail admitted as she sat down on the couch, pulling Holly with her. _

"_Hi Josh. I see you've incurred the wrath of Officer Peck." She stated as Josh shook his head sadly. _

"_She's quite the vixen, isn't she?" He said as Gail eyed him carefully. _

"_You knew what you were getting into at the start." Gail shot back as Holly just sat there and watched the two banter back and forth. _

_Over the next 2 days that Josh was in town, he and Gail continued to form a great friendship and alliance towards Holly at times, mainly when it came to what type of food they were going to order and what movie they would watch. _

* * *

"Oh, and since you had to take over Dov's shift the last time Josh was here and missed the Stewart family dinner, my parents want to do it this time." Holly added.

"With Josh's girlfriend, too?" Gail asked, somewhat shocked.

"No, they aren't 'parent serious' enough yet." Holly said, using Josh's words.

"What's her name?" Gail asked curiously.

"Lena." Holly said, purposely leaving out her last name.

"Last name?" Gail asked.

"Not going to tell you, Officer. You don't need to run a background check on her." Holly said, laughing.

"I'm just trying to look out for _your_ brother, but okay." Gail said jokingly.

"So you'll come?" Holly asked, wanting to get confirmation.

"To dinner with your parents and Josh, and a separate dinner with Josh and Lena?" Gail asked.

"Yeah." Holly said, nodding.

"I don't know, Hol. That's a lot of 'Stewart time.'" She said with a grimace as Holly slapped her arm lightly.

"You're so funny, Peck."

"Of course I'll go. The 'Stewart time' would be fabulous, I'm sure. It'll be nice to see your parents when I'm not injured."

"That'll be nice, yes, but my parents are both quite taken with you." Holly said sincerely.

"What, with my charming personality?" Gail asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes. They thought you were very real and fresh."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised." Gail mumbled, thinking about the bra incident.

* * *

"Uhh, why are we such a sought after couple?" Gail asked as she flopped on her stomach onto the couch next to Holly, throwing her phone under one of the pillows.

"Who wants to have dinner with us now?" The brunette asked with a smile as she started rubbing her hand up and down Gail's back.

"Steve and Traci. That's so weird. I've never been on a double date with my brother before." Gail said, groaning into the couch.

"It'll be fine, don't worry."

"Why would I be worried? It's not like he would start saying things that I don't want to hear, right?" Gail asked as Holly smirked. "Right?!" The blonde asked again.

"Sure, babe. As long as you're on your best behavior, I'm sure he will be too. Traci can keep him in line." Holly added.

"And you think you can keep me in line?" Gail asked skeptically as she rolled onto her back.

"Oh, I know I can." The brunette added, her eyes sparkling with impending laughter.

"Yeah?" The blonde asked, not convinced.

"And it all lies around one word." Holly said simply.

"I don't like the sound of this." Gail admitted as Holly laughed.

"Sex." The brunette said simply as Gail groaned.

"You wouldn't really hold out on me if I'm a bitch at dinner with _my brother_ and his girlfriend, would you?"

"I don't think you want to find out, do you?" Holly asked with a smirk. "I also don't want to find out how graphic you and your brother can be with your storytelling." She added.

"We're not that bad!" Gail shrieked.

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that. I'm sure the two of you together is a force to be reckoned with."

"Don't worry, we'll be on our best behavior, but only because you and Trace will be there." Gail admitted as Holly smiled.

"Good. I don't need you throwing any of our intimate details at him to get back at him if he says something about him and Traci."

"Don't even put that image in my head, Stewart!" Gail said, throwing her arm over her eyes, causing her shirt to ride up slightly so the brunette could see the rock hard stomach that belonged to her girlfriend.

"So now that you're done with that phone call?" Holly asked with a smirk as Gail lowered her arm to look Holly in the eyes.

"I think I like the sound of this, nerd." Gail said sweetly.

"You should, Peck." Holly replied, smiling as Gail rolled off the couch and then quickly turned around and straddled Holly on the couch.

They were both still dressed in their pajamas, but they both thought that the other looked incredibly gorgeous.

Holly visibly gulped when she looked up at Gail, who was smiling happily.

The blonde leaned forward and started kissing Holly's neck and nipping on her ear and pulse point, smiling when Holly threw her head back and moaned.

After a few minutes of Gail continuing her assault on Holly's neck, the brunette grabbed the back of Gail's head and brought her in for a searing kiss.

The blonde and brunette immediately groaned as they tongues met each other and Gail starting grinding into Holly.

It had definitely been too long.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! You guys are awesome! **


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